Willy, part II

I've posted on Willy before.  Here's the latest.

Willy just might be the oldest horse in the building that is the site of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.


And, the legendary dark brown gelding, who will be honoured in a retirement ceremony at some point this week, has probably lost a step or two in his last year on the trail.

But, Cody Cassidy remains confident that the 24-year-old gelding can still do the job in rodeo's steer wrestling event.

And, who can argue?

Willy once again fired when asked and Cassidy caught and slam-dunked a dark red steer in four seconds flat to get himself on the leaderboard.

When all was said and done, he ended up splitting third in the WNFR's second round to earn $8,897.

Combined with a 4.6-second run on opening night, Cassidy is tied for fifth in the aggregate with a total time of 8.6 seconds.

"I don't think Willy is good as he once was, I mean he's 24 years old, but he is always going to give you a chance to win and I've got so much confidence in him, it's tough to jump on something else.

"I basically grew up with that horse and it's nice to have him here. He's not 100 percent like he once was, but hopefully eight more steers will be the last ones he's ever going to run."

Cassidy drew a steer that he knew wasn't going to run hard and could catch him quick.

"I got a little bit better start than I was anticipating and that was good because they said the steer always wants to hang a leg (in the dirt). He did, but I got by him and it was nice to win that much money."

This is Cassidy's first-ever NFR appearance and marks his debut in the money ranks.

"Hey, this beats the (crap) out of our Canadian Finals," he chuckled of the sizeable reward "and hopefully I can build on this moment.

Cassidy's older brother Curtis, the world standings leader coming into this $5.875 million showdown, overcame a no time on opening night to turn down his steer in 5.5 seconds.

It wasn't fast enough to put him in the money, but it helped him regain some confidence.

Curtis also switched horses in the second round.

He left his grey mount Casper in the barn and jumped on reigning world champion Lee Graves' world champion black pony Jesse.

That was his original plan, but after a disappointing round with the fractious Casper, he agreed he should have stuck with Jesse.


It's more than likely a comfort to Cody Cassidy to have Willy there as a kind of steadying hand at his first NFR considering he grew up with the old guy.  24 is an admirable age for a horse to begin with, but to still be in the shape he is and performing lke he does on a regular basis is pretty much unbelievable!  The rodeo world will miss him while he enjoys his retirement.